I noticed that Washington DC was once part of the line up. For whatever reason, that made me wonder why tech events aren't at least occassionally held at major Universities like MIT during their vacation periods. Even if space is at a premium, summer time at these large campuses should open up the possibility of using outdoor tents and such.

What better way to lock in market share than to influence the minds of future decision makers.

@Susan. Good points. I think that unexplained mysteries like these open the table up for speculation, which can sometimes be fun.

Just as Silicon Valley is almost synonimous with IT, so is Wall Street with finance. In theory, Wall Street would be Silicon Valley's biggest customer base.

I wonder if things can be explained by a difference in corporate culture. In nyc, I've often heard that companies do not want to pay to train someone else's future employee. Also, an overwhelming majority of IT jobs at major corporations in nyc tend to only be available as temp/subcontractor positions. I'm willing to bet that most IT Outsourcing companies either cannot afford to send their employees to events like these, or they cannot afford to have some of their top employees leave for any extended period of time.

Abe, I agree it's a little strange that Cisco ignores the NYC market, but since they now only floor one US event (as jgherbert helpfully informed us) I think it's simply an economic decision. There is such a concentration of technology (hence partners and customers) in the Silicon Valley, and it is probably much easier logistically for the company to organize the event closer to home. For the rest of us, Mohammed must go to the mountain ;)

I saw on the Cisco global events page that next year's event is in San Diego. And Cisco Live Cancun is coming up in November, if anyone wants to start buttering up their manager for a trip there: http://www.ciscolive.com/global/

Cisco Live is once a year (in the US) and in a single location. People come in from all over the country, and internationally, to be there. In previous years Cisco Live US has been held in, off the top of my head:

Orlando, FL

Las Vegas, NV

San Diego, CA

San Francisco, CA

New Orleans, LA

However, there is a definite West Coast leaning. Funny, that ;-) I believe in the past Cisco Networkers (old name for the networking part of CL) used to be in more than one location, but now it's all integrated.

The biggest problem they face now is one of size. With a quoted 25,000 people in attendance this year, there are very few venues that can handle the number of attendees - and those that can also need to have appropriate accomodation for those 25,000 nearby as well. As of a couple of years ago, that meant that the event was pretty much limited to two or three venues nationally... Still, the CL team on Twitter in my experience is very responsive and open to ideas, so I suspect they'd welcome suggestions if you have any!

Great event!! Too bad there's so much going on in such a short time but at least now I've got photo proof that I was there. Big hugs to all old and new friends I met. Sadly I believe this might be the last time we'll be having CiscoLive in San Francisco. If the number of attendees rises above 25000 Moscone simply won't cut it.

Yep, isn't hard to figure out who is who in those photos, thanks for sharing John!

This recent Cisco Live could have been Chambers' last, but my guess is not. His retirement was a rumor on Twitter before the event, but he gave no clues on a timeline for stepping down, and I think last fall he only gave a sketchy timeframe of 2-4 years.

Our latest survey shows growing demand, fixed budgets, and good reason why resellers and vendors must fight to remain relevant. One thing's for sure: The data center is poised for a wild ride, and no one wants to be left behind.